Polygamy Movement linked to Gay Marriage Movement

I've seen a few articles recently comparing the recent hetrosexual polygamy movement to the recent fight for the right for gay and lesbian couples to marry. I'm wondering if any lesbians have read these articles and what's your take on them? How do you feel having our communities fight for equality linked to a hetrosexual movement? Do you think the two are similar? I'm interested to know what you think...

Sometimes you stand on the edge of a cliff and you jump. You jump because you're tired of being scared. Sometimes you jump just to feel the fall

From what I've seen in the news here in Canada, there are some Mormon groups in Eastern Canada that were saying that if gay marriage was legalized (which it was) than they would begin to push for the legalization of polygamous marriage. MP's were defending the difference between gay marriage and polygamous marriage by stating that homosexuality is not illegal, and polygamy is- so polygamous marriage won't be legalized.

My only thoughts on this are that legal definitions such as marriage are completely man-made. They are determined by those in power. It took humans to decide that homosexuality used to be a criminal activity. It took humans to decide to change that within Canada. The same can be said for polygamous marriage; humans decided it was a criminal action, and humans can change the definition to decriminalize it.

My personal opinion on it is that if the State is going to get involved in marriage, than it should be set up to allow for a legally binding contract between adults (but then again, the legal definition of "adult" is fuzzy and changes across provinces within Canada, and changes from one country to another). If people want their marriage to be a religious union, than get married in their church, and keep the government out of it. If people want to sign a contract which will grant certain rights/privileges and responsibilities to another adult (or two or three) it's really none of my business.

I am totally with redneck angel on providing for legally binding contracts solidifying a broad range of adult relationships. Of course, a valid contract must be freely signed, which is where R.A.'s tricky little age of consent issue comes in. That's just a part of the muddle that is consent, but let's pretend for a minute that this term can be defined.

As far as consent goes, there's polygamy and then there's polygamy. Granted, there are issues of consent across all sexual orientations and forms of kinship. But those Mormon groups (some in Western Canada rather than Eastern, no?) are infamous for a culture which abusively imposes the polygamous lifestyle. Then there are cultures in which polygamy is the norm and people are as happy with that as, I dunno, a heterosexual with a husband a kid and a dog in Canada. Then there are polygamous (or polyamorous) countercultures in which people struggle just like the rest of us queers to have their choices and loves accepted. Part of that struggle for these latter folks must be to distinguish themselves from the first group.

While I want nothing to do with supporting abusively imposed relationships, I am delighted to think that the fight for legal recognition of gay and lesbian marriage might be shared with polyamorous people who are also struggling to have their freely chosen loves recognized.